County Supervisor Peter Foy's son sentenced to 6 years

Peter Charles Foy II is seen in a past court appearance. Foy is the son of Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy.

Ventura County Star

Peter Charles Foy II

The son of Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy was sentenced to six years in prison on charges involving transportation of drugs, money laundering and failure to file income tax.

Peter Charles Foy II, dressed in county orange and blue garb, addressed Ventura County Superior Court Judge Joseph Campbell on Friday while friends and family — including Supervisor Foy — were in the audience.

"There is no doubt I was selfish," the younger Foy said. "I do have a family and I was too proud to let them know that I was struggling. I took, at the time, the easy way out."

Foy II pleaded guilty Feb. 10 to one count of transporting the drug oxycodone on June 4 and 5. He also pleaded guilty to felony money laundering and failure to file his income tax return.

He also pleaded guilty for violating his probation on a prior case. In July 2012, he was sentenced to a year in jail after he pleaded no contest to conspiring to manufacture a human growth hormone, said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Robert Snider. Foy II instead served his time through work furlough and was under three years of probation when he was arrested again in August, Snider said.

Before he entered his guilty plea in February, he initially was facing 13 counts in his recent case, including one count of conspiracy to commit a crime, one count of commercial burglary and four counts of money laundering, five counts of transporting a controlled substance and two counts of tax evasion.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Derek Malan said Foy II shipped packages of oxycodone pills from Ventura County to Lexington, Ky. Proceeds from the sale of the drugs were then shipped back to locations in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including his home in Simi Valley.

Malan said Foy II deposited the money into two accounts, including one at a Chase bank branch in Simi Valley.

Foy II was arrested in August after months of investigation by the Ventura County Combined Agency Narcotics Task Force. The task force received a tip that he was selling narcotics in Ventura County, sheriff's officials said.

The task force then received information from a narcotics unit in Los Angeles County that intercepted about $13,000 in cash in mail addressed to Foy II. In addition, U.S. Postal Service inspectors intercepted about $7,000 in cash addressed to Foy II, sheriff's officials said.

A K-9 unit detected controlled substances on a package sent from Lexington, officials said. A search warrant was served on Foy II's bank accounts, and records suggested he had been laundering a significant amount of cash through the account for more than two years, authorities said.

During Friday's hearing, Malan asked Campbell to administer a sentence of 10 years and four months, and added Foy II was aware of the possible consequences if he reoffended.

"I think it's clear he has a wide range of family members and friends who would do anything for him," Malan said. "He could have reached out to any one of these individuals. It's his own pride and greed that led him to make these choices.

"We will never know the amount of people who might have overdosed from the oxycodone supplied by the defendant."

Rebekah Mathis, of the Public Defenders Office, asked Campbell to consider a 12-year conditional suspended sentence and up to 10 years of probation. As alternative, Mathis also asked Campbell for a six-year fixed determinate sentence.

"He made and absolutely terrible decision," Mathis said, adding that Foy II did not understand the seriousness of his actions.

"From time to time. we come a across a human being who is a good person ... and has the tools to succeed, but simply made a mistake. He is not standing here saying he deserves any special treatment."

Supervisor Foy also addressed Campbell and choked back tears as he asked the judge to grant for a lesser sentence for his son, who has a wife and two young children.

"There is no question that we understand the gravity of what has happened and we understand the crime he has committed," Supervisor Foy said.

"But also understand he has family here to support him. Our goal is to bring him back to our family and as part of society. We are in a position to ensure that. Whatever it takes, we will support him."

Campbell said he believed Foy deserved six years in prison given Foy immediately pleaded guilty to the charges.

Malan said he would not be willing to dismiss the remaining counts if the court would impose a determinate six-year sentence. Mathis, however, said the additional counts were possibly dropped when Foy pleaded guilty in February in front of Judge Rodger Picquet.

Campbell ordered Foy to return on Monday to clarify whether the additional counts were dropped or not.